Wade Smith calls meeting for offensive linemen after ‘sloppy’ showing

Left guard Wade Smith, the quiet, unsung hero of the offensive line, didn’t like the way the linemen practiced in the morning. They were too sloppy, so Smith decided to do something about it to make sure that type of effort didn’t carry over into Saturday’s game against San Francisco.

Smith called the linemen together. Smith, center Chris Myers and offensive tackle Duane Brown took turns speaking to the group. At times, they were animated.

“It wasn’t good enough,” Smith said about practice. “We wouldn’t have had to address it if it was good enough. You communicate with each other and make sure everybody is on the same page. I think we did that, and we’ll be fine going forward.”

Brown, who agreed to a new contract after practice, had a lot to say.

“This is early on in the season,” Brown said. “You’ve got to nip this stuff in the bud and let people know you can’t make this a habit. This is a business, and we’ve got standards, and we’ve got to set the tone.”

The linemen will have to wait until they play the 49ers to see if their meeting did any good.